A couple of weeks ago Colleen, our head of Product Development, and I went to Linea Pelle in Milan. Colleen has made many trips to the leather fair, but it was my first time attending and I was so thrilled to be there (we have some wonderful materials in store for Fall) and fell in love with Milan! We worked a lot and had very little time to see much of the city, but we made the most of that time. Here's what we did on our one day off:
Our morning started out with a walk from our wonderful hotel, the Yard, to the Fondazione Prada. This entire compound is a design lovers dreamscape - executed by Rem Koolhaas' architecture firm OMA. I loved this part of the old distillery that they painted with gold leaf.
This ginormous hangar-like room was home to my favorite installation - this John Baldessari piece called Giacometti Variations. 
After absorbing much art and architecture, we had to grab a snack at the Wes Anderson-designed Bar Luce where we had tiny prosciutto sammys on buns and cappuccinos.
From there we jumped in a taxi and had them drop us at Piazza del Duomo - breathtaking.
But as beautiful as il Duomo is, I think Colleen's idea to be dropped there was just to get us close to this bar: Camparino - it's one of her favorites. Aside from the amazing drinks and snacks on the bar, the mosiac walls are stunning.
Bar Camparino is right at the entrance to the world's most beautiful mall: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The glass-covered ceiling met its match in the multi-material-based tile and terrazzo floors. Ahh, if only malls in the US were this pretty.
After walking and walking, we each had a bowl of pasta, and 3 Italian beverages of choice, at another of Colleen's stand by's: the beautiful Cova.
Shopping after a glass of wine is always fun (and sure to be spendy) - so when walking to our next destination from Cova and we passed Miu Miu, I had to stop in to see if they had this shirt I've been dreaming about. They did. The last one. I took this pic in the dressing room to text to my shopping-enabling friend Heather, to make sure she approved. She did and I bought it, along with a short sleeved black sweater with holes all over it. (I love the shopgirl in the background checking on me. Caught in the act of Selfie.)
After shopping, we walked to my friend JJ's new offices for her online vintage site, La Double J - which were so incredibly CUTE! 
JJ's Miu Miu cat wallpaper summed up what our day in Milan was like: fun, maximalist, & gorgeous. xcv